Massa closes in after Bourdais penalty

Sebastien Bourdais has had 25 seconds added to his Japanese Grand Prix finishing time after making contact with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on lap 52. The penalty demotes him to 10th place, after finishing the race in sixth, meaning he looses three world championship points.

The incident occurred as Bourdais was leaving the pit lane. He entered the first turn at the same time as Massa, who was setting fastest laps to try and get past his rivals in the pits at the time. The French driver tried to get out of the Ferrari’s way, but the two made contact and Massa spun round, losing the time he had made up in the previous laps.

Crucially, this gives Massa an extra point in the race, which decreases Lewis Hamilton’s championship lead to five points. Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld also benefit from the decision, promoted to sixth, eighth and ninth.

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Heidfeld given grid penalty for pit entry

Nick Heidfeld will be penalised three grid positions for the Singapore Grand Prix after being deemed to have impeded Honda driver, Rubens Barrichello, while he was on a flying lap. The incident occurred during the first qualifying session when Barrichello was held up by the BMW who was entering the pit lane at the part of the entry on the racing line. The stewards decided he should have done more to get out of Barrichello’s way.

After being held up, Barrichello abandoned his lap and entered the pits. He has also be punished and given a 10,000 euro fine for not using the deceleration zone properly during his pit entry. Heidfeld will now start from ninth after qualifying sixth, whilst Barrichello will stay in eighteenth.

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Trulli fined 10,000 euros

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli has been reprimanded and fined 10,000 euros after driving the wrong way round the Marina Bay circuit. The incident occurred during the first of two Friday practice sessions at Singapore, when the Italian spun coming out of the last corner. Instead of continuing down the main strait, he decided to come back the way he came and cut across the white line, also against the rules, so he could enter the pits.

The Stewards came to the conclusion that he had broken Article 30.2 of the 2008 F1 Regulations stating “drivers are strictly forbidden to drive their car in the opposite direction to the race unless this is absolutely necessary in order to move the car from a dangerous position.” He also crossed the white line separting the racing track and pit lane entrance, which is strictly forbidden under the sporting regulations.

Trulli will face no further punishment.

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More controversy as McLaren launch appeal

After McLaren’s yesterday confirmation of lodging an appeal against the penalty given to Lewis Hamilton, which lost him a win at Belgium, it has been revealed that race control told the British team they would be ‘okay’ after Hamilton’s chicane cutting that led to a post-race drive-through.

On lap 41, at the start of an incredible battle between the McLaren driver and reigning champion, Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton cut the final corner but let Raikkonen back in the lead before passing him again at the next turn. The race stewards decided the Brit still gained an advantage and penalised him but McLaren have revealed they were immediately talking to race control to check if Hamilton had done enough, to which the reply gave the impression it would be okay.

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh said “If race control had instead expressed any concern regarding Lewis’s actions at that time, we would have instructed Lewis to allow Kimi to re-pass for a second time.”

McLaren will now start their appeal against the penalty in an attempt to regain the full 10 points from the race.

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Hamilton stripped of Belgian win

Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his win and demoted to third in the aftermath of this years Belgian Grand Prix.  The McLaren driver has been given a 25 second penalty, handing Ferrari’s Felipe Massa the race win and promoting Nick Heidfeld to second.

Hamilton was penalised for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage on lap 41 whilst battling with eventual retiree, Kimi Raikkonen. This means Hamiltons championship lead is now down to only 2 points as Massa takes the full 10 points from the race. McLaren have announced their intention to appeal against the decision.

Toyota’s Timo Glock has also been given a timed penalty of 25 seconds, effectively an post race drive-though. He passed Mark Webber for eighth even though yellow flags were being waved for Raikkonen’s stricken Ferrari. The penalty puts him down to ninth.

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